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Field of Dreams game reportedly most-watched regular-season game since 2005

Yankees White Sox Baseball
Posted at 2:59 PM, Aug 13, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-13 16:48:38-04

DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Tim Anderson hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning into the cornfield to end the Field of Dreams game in cinematic fashion.

The Chicago White Sox outslugged the New York Yankees 9-8 in the first Major League Baseball game in Iowa.

The game was so good for Fox Sports, that it was the most-watched regular-season baseball game in 16 years, according to Fox Sports Executive Vice President Michael Mulvihill and The Athletic's Richard Deitsch.

According to TV Line, the game averaged 5.2 million total viewers.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton each hit two-run homers in the top of the ninth off Liam Hendriks as the movie-themed throwback event became a home run hitting contest into the cornfield.

APTOPIX Yankees White Sox Baseball
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge watches a Chicago White Sox Seby Zavala home run fly into the outfield corn in the fourth inning during a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021 in Dyersville, Iowa. The Yankees and White Sox are playing at a temporary stadium in the middle of a cornfield at the Field of Dreams movie site, the first Major League Baseball game held in Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

There were eight long balls in all, two by Judge in front of the crowd of 7,832.

The event, delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, pulled out all the steps.

Even the original star of the 1989 cult classic, Kevin Costner, came to the game.

According to the Associated Press, the game was the first-ever MLB game to be played in Iowa.

MLB built a made-from-scratch stadium adjacent to the baseball field where the "Field of Dreams" movie was filmed in Dyersville, Iowa.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB would do it again next year, with teams to be announced later.